Lunch and a Song
by Mr.legoman
Summary: In an effort to improve her conversation skills with Raphael, Bernadetta decides to have a nice picnic with him. Somewhat of a rewrite of their A support.


Bernadetta didn't feel like she was going to die today. She felt somewhat confident about her meeting with Raphael today. It was just going to be another of their meetings, no major deal really. She wouldn't die from that, hopefully.

As Bernadetta moved about her room, making sure she grabbed everything she might need for her picnic with Raphael, she thought back to why she was doing this in the first place.

Ever since their reunion at the Monastery, Bernadetta had met with Raphael to try and get over her fear of him. It had been a difficult and long process, but she had finally been able to talk to him without running away. It was strange, Bernie reflected how easy that had been. He would always listen to her and be encouraging when they spoke. And listening to him talk enthusiastically about his sister and his home town always cheered Bernadetta up no matter the occasion.

He was just like a teddy bear, well closer to an actual bear, but still.

Bernie smiled at the thought as she got ready. A friendly bear, that helped and encouraged. As she pictured the image, an idea of sprung to mind and she hurriedly looked for a scrap of paper to write down her idea. She finally managed to start writing down her idea of a friendly bear going on adventures when there was a knock at her dorm room door. "Hey, uh Bernadetta it's Raphael," came the booming voice of Raphael.

Very briefly Bernadetta considered staying in her nice relaxed room and skipping today's meeting. Raphael wouldn't mind she knew, but even as she thought Bernadetta knew she couldn't do it. She had been working hard to improve herself and oddly she did want to spend more time with Raphael. "So, she summoned her courage and replied with. "Just a minute,"

She hastily finished jotting down her idea then finished gathering things for the picnic. When she was ready, she opened the door. Raphael stood waiting for his ever-present smile on his face. "You ready?" He asked.

"Yes, I am," Bernadetta replied. "Wait, I forgot something," she called out as a sudden thought struck her. Then she quickly turned around and rushed back inside her room. After only a few seconds of searching, Bernadetta found what she was looking for. She quickly grabbed it, stuffed it into her picnic basket and rushed back out. "Sorry about that," she apologized as she shut her door behind herself.

"No problem," Raphael replied still smiling. "So where are we going today?"

"Oh, just the field outside the monastery," Bernadetta answered. "I saw it when I was last on patrol duty."

"Alright then, lead on."

The field outside of Garreg Mach was nice and open, ignoring the various ruins that dotted the landscape it was pleasant. It also provided a nice area away from the hustle and other people of the monastery. Bernadetta found the spot she wanted and nodded to Raphael. "Is here, fine?"

Raphael nodded and began to lay out the blanket. "Sure, looks like a nice spot."

Bernadetta let out a sigh of relief and mentally crossed off one of her worries for the day. One down she thought as she prepared for her talk. She set the basket down and began to take out some of the food she had prepared. Raphael let out a cheer of joy as he sat down and looked at all the food. "Wow, this all looks amazing. Did you fix all this?"

"I did, sorry if it's bad or terrible," Bernadetta replied.

Raphael shook his head at that. "No, it all looks good."

Bernadett smiled feeling a bit more relieved and relaxed.

"So, what did you want to talk about today?" Raphael asked. Summoning all of her courage, Bernadetta said, "I want to tell you of the hunting trip I went on with Petra if you don't mind."

"I don't," Raphael said. "Do I need to turn around?" Bernadetta thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, I think, I can talk to you without having you turn around," Bernadetta replied her voice a tiny bit shaky. She struggled to try and make eye contact with Raphael and carefully she managed it._ Alright,_ Bernie thought to herself. _Let's do this then._

Bernadetta slowly began to talk about her hunting trip. She took it slow, trying to pace herself. As she began to talk more, she found it easier and easier to speak with him. Surprising even herself she actually managed to make eye contact with Raphael. When she was finished, Bernadetta lapsed into an awkward silence. Raphael nodded at her and gestured that he was still chewing some of his food. "That was amazing," Raphael said when he'd finish swallowing the food.

"The food or my story?" Bernadetta asked nervously.

"Uhh, both," Raphael replied simply. "This food is amazing and you're really improving at talking to me. You hardly mumbled or ran away. You're improving."

Bernadetta allowed herself to smile. "Really, you like it."

"Of course," Raphael replied. Relief filled Bernadetta on hearing that and she breathed a sigh of relief. _That was another near impossibility dealt with, just one more,_ Bernie thought to herself.

"Are you going to eat?" Raphael asked as he looked at more of the food hungrily.

"Oh, I am," Bernadetta replied. "I just want to do something first." Summoning her courage, Bernadetta reached into the basket and pulled out her Ocarina. "Raphael smiled on noticing her ocarina. "Are you going to play something?" He asked excitedly.

Bernadetta nodded.

Raphael smile faltered a bit and he asked. "Do I need to turn around for this?"

She hesitated. "No, you're fine as you are."

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Bernadetta mentally prepared to play. After she was sufficiently prepared, Bernie raised her Ocarina to her lips and began to play. The sound at first came out squeaky and terrible, flustered Bernie stopped and tried to restart. Only for the sound to come out worse and completely out of tune. She was on the verge of giving up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Bernadetta looked up to see Raphael smiling encouragingly at her.

"You can do it," he said confidently giving her a thumbs up. "I believe in you." Bernadetta shared her smile with him. Confidence slowly building up, she somewhat calmed her nerves and after a moment she tried playing again. It again didn't sound too good, but she kept at it and tried not to think of Raphael watching her. She shifted her focus on the notes and slowly they began to sound better. As her confidence built up, her playing steadily improved. She eventually was able to play through a song without any slip-ups or failures.

When she was done, she lowered her instrument and got ready to apologize. But before she could Raphael began to clap loudly startling her completely. "That was great," he cheered as he continued to clap enthusiastically. "But I did awful." Bernadetta interrupted.

"You did," Raphael paused searching for the right word. "Great in the second half, after you restarted. If you get more practice, I'm sure you can overcome that nervousness. Heck, I bet one day you could perform in front of everyone."

Bernie froze, in front of everyone? She imagined briefly everyone in the army gathered around listening to her perform. "I can't do that." She stated bluntly shaking her head. "I don't think I'll ever be able to do that."

"Sure you can," Raphael replied. "One day, I'm sure you can perform for others."

"But but what if they throw things at me."

"Then I'll be there to block them."

"What if… what if they attack me?"

"Then I'll be there to punch them."

Bernie hurriedly tried to think of a different excuse, she was just thinking of a giant meteor striking Fodlan when Raphael interrupted her thoughts with a loud ahem. She looked back at him, his smile was gone and instead was replaced by an oddly serious expression. "I'll be there for you Bernie, no matter what."

Bernadetta didn't have a response to that. She was torn between objecting to the idea of playing for others and the thought of Raphael, supporting her. That last one made Bernie smile on thinking it. "Uhh, Bernie," Raphael said getting her attention.

"I'm sorry, Raphael what were you saying."

"I was just saying," Raphael replied. "That we can work toward playing for others." He smiled at her. "I think you should share your music with everyone, to make people happy. But there's something a bit more important right now."

Confused Bernadetta asked. "What's that?"

Raphael gestured at the food spread out around them. "I was just saying, we should eat before the food gets cold. "Oh, right," Bernie replied as her attention went to the food she had prepared. "Right," Bernadetta said. "We should do that."

As she began to eat, Bernie thought about Raphael's comment about performing for others. She oddly liked the idea, especially Raphael being there for her. If she continued to play for Raphael and slowly improved, maybe she could one day, years into the future, play for others. She smiled at the thought.

First, however, they would finish lunch then this war would have to end. Then after that who knew. Bernadetta would have to wait and find out, but that wait wouldn't be too bad if Raphael stayed by her side.

A/N: Thank you for reading this fanfic. I want to state that I did love the A+ support for these two I just thought it could be a bit better and bookend with Bernadetta playing her instrument for Raphael. Speaking of her instrument, I didn't see what an instrument she played so I just thought Ocarina. Anyways thanks again for reading, and have a great day/evening/night/life.

Comments and Feedback appreciated.


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